


The Night Before Ilos

by Europolarist



Series: Rebekah's Friend [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 12:36:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5456747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Europolarist/pseuds/Europolarist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Peyton returning to a professional relationship, as the Normandy heads toward Ilos, Jeff makes a move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night Before Ilos

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vorcha_Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorcha_Girl/gifts).



> Please note, there is explicit sex in this story, please turn back if you are not of age. Also, this is in Jeff's POV, which was a little bit weird writing, since I'm a girl.

Jeff sat at the pilot’s station, staring blankly at the orange holographic display. It was late, far past the time for him to give up the chair; but by now his replacement was used to his habit of working late hours. It wasn’t that Jeff didn’t trust the Corporal, the young woman’s test scores were nearly as high as his had been; but the Normandy was his baby. 

Peyton and the Brass had hired on a second pilot after the mission to Therum, Commander Shepard had insisted that he get some help that didn’t include one of her handful of ground team members and Admiral Hackett had signed the request. 

Still, that didn’t mean he was willing to pass the torch at the end of his shift. If something happened and the Normandy was called to another location, Jeff wanted to be the one at the helm. And that was something that Peyton was clearly trying to break him of.

He sighed, thinking back to the kiss that they’d shared all those months ago. It had been a dream come true, feeling her respond to his touch. The pressure of her lips against his and her fingers brushing against his chest had been the source of his torturous dreams since that night in the cockpit. But, nothing had happened since then. They’d returned to a firm peon-supervisor relationship as soon as the next shift has started. Sure she came by to joke with him, made cutting remarks while Alenko sat in the co-pilot’s chair whiling away the hours; but Peyton kept their interactions strictly professional.

Of course, they had been busy. Chasing down Saren and answering to the Council’s every beck and call had begun to wear on the entire Normandy team. In his head Jeff could rationalize their actions; but, in his heart, he was hurt thinking that maybe Peyton had been leading him on. 

Jeff wasn’t blind; he’d both seen and heard the asari trying to flirt with her, even Alenko had tried to make a move once or twice. At least, Jeff thought even while he hated the tone of the voice in his head, Peyton hadn’t responded to their flirtations either.

He caught a whiff of the lightly-scented perfume that he knew she barely remembered to wear. For the most part, the Commanding Officer played by the rules; but Jeff had picked up quickly on her small indulgence of one little spray from the bottle now and then. He’d never seen her apply the perfume, it was surely done in the privacy of her quarters on the habitation deck; but Peyton came by often enough for Jeff to know for sure that she’d been in his chair within the last working day.

He didn’t know why she’d come into the cockpit, only that she must have slipped into his seat when he’d been on his lunch break hours ago. Her scent was faint, Jeff was surprised he’d caught it at all; but now that he noticed it, Jeff wanted to roll around in it.

Muttering a curse under his breath, he swiped the program off the display and glowered at the terminal.

“XO Pressly ordered me to relieve you, Flight Lieutenant,” Corporal Delaine said, announcing her arrival.

Jeff nodded, pushing himself out of the chair. Only ten hours ago they’d hijacked the ship from the docks on the Citadel. The ship had barely been fueled when Captain Anderson had hacked into Udina’s terminal and Jeff had pressed the disengage button. He’d flown the ship to the Citadel’s relay as fast as he’d possibly been able. The rush of adrenaline was still there, lingering through his veins. 

He coughed his throat clear and looked at the young woman standing behind the pilot’s seat. With a quick stop on Omega for a few supplies, they were on their way to the Hawking Eta system to take the Mu Relay into the Pangaean Expanse. The Normandy would be, if all worked out, the first ship in four thousand years to successfully use the relay. 

“She should be good to go. Nothing out of the ordinary. Long as we get to the Mu Relay without incident.”

The Corporal nodded. 

“I’ll let you know when we’re half an hour out.”

He returned the nod and moved out of the way, limping on his right leg, deadened from hours at his post. The brace was still in place from his earlier dressing, it rarely bothered him anymore, and because he stayed on the ship, the lower gravity was giving him a false sense of healing. 

Chakwas had said that his progress was going well, the meds that the doc had him on were helping; but Jeff knew that at some point he’d go back to visit his family on Tiptree and all the progress he’d made in low grav would be for naught. 

At least he no longer needed to use his crutches when he walked to the mess and to his sleeping pod from the cockpit.

Trying not to think about his personal problems and knowing that half the crew, including himself, was still mourning Ash’s sacrifice, he moved through the CIC and headed for the stairs that would lead to the habitation deck. 

A few people milled about in the mess though it was decidedly empty. The lights in the medbay were on, indicating that Doctor Chakwas was still awake; but Jeff walked past the unlocked doors, not really looking forward to a lecture from the CMO.

He had fully intended on climbing into one of the sleeper pods, on getting a full night’s rest before they reached the relay; but to his shock, the door to Peyton’s quarters was unlocked and with a quick glance around, Jeff didn’t see a single sign of T’soni or Alenko.

Gathering what little nerve he had, Jeff slowly made his way toward the Commander’s door, doing his best to ignore the slight limp in his gait.

The door to her quarters slid open as he approached, revealing Peyton dressed down in a set of non-regulation clothes and holding an empty teacup in her hands.

“Joker,” she gasped, her brown eyes wide. 

He cleared his throat.

“That’s my name,” he quipped, immediately wanting to sink into the floor or throw himself out the airlock. What was he, five years old?

He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly nervous. Why had he come over to her quarters in the first place? Jeff couldn’t remember.

“Do you,” Peyton started, then paused to worry her bottom lip. 

“You have a few minutes?” he interrupted, seeing the concern flash across her features.

“Of course,” she stepped to the side, turning and letting him into the sanctuary of her quarters. 

Jeff couldn’t believe it had been that easy to be invited inside. 

Once the door had closed behind him, words fled his brain. Suddenly Jeff had nothing to talk about, nothing to say to the first human Spectre. His mouth went dry, his jaw likely flapping like a fish caught out of water.

Peyton frowned, her brown eyebrows furrowing and creasing the skin of her forehead.

“What is it, Jeff?” she asked, voice full of concern.

He stared at her, it wasn’t the first time he noticed it. Whenever they were alone, when things were more intimate than they should be, Peyton stopped referring to him by his nickname. Instead, her voice would lower a smidge and she’d use his given name. 

Before he could even stop himself, Jeff rushed forward and pressed Peyton back a few steps against the hull, his hands gripping her shoulders. The movement surprised her, hell it surprised him as well, but Jeff didn’t allow himself the chance to think. She’d been so good at keeping to the Alliance regs, but he wanted to prove to her that he didn’t care, that he wanted her, not the Commander.

He pressed his lips against hers, darting his tongue out to taste her.

Peyton’s lips were softer than he remembered, and slightly slick. 

She opened for him, and Jeff swiped his tongue into her mouth and brushed against hers. There was a hint of chamomile on her breath, and he moaned.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and he took a shaky step forward, praying to whatever gods or divines were up there in the proverbial heavens that they didn’t let his braces give out on him. While his legs wouldn’t break if the braces gave out, he didn’t think he’d be able to continue standing and ravishing her for too long if they did.

Jeff let his hands travel down her arms and slipped them back, along her spine, down her waist and to her hips. His fingers dug into the material as he lined up their bodies against the inner hull of the ship. 

For a few minutes she allowed him to devour her, to kiss her like he needed it to live, but just as his mind grew into a haze of Peyton and chamomile, the engineer’s hands pressed into his chest, pushing him away.

He blinked, trying to make his vision clear. The sudden distance between them was jarring

“Jeff,” she said, her voice husky. 

The sound of it sent a frisson of lust straight to his groin.

Then, his eyes locked with hers and a cold chill washed over him at the sight of determination on her features.

“I’m sorry,” he said, starting to immediately apologize. 

Damnit, the voice in his head cursed. One fucking wrong move and he was going to be written up on charges and kicked out of the Alliance.

“Where’s this coming from?” she asked, breaking the silence between them a few agonizingly long moments later.

“I’m sorry, Peyton,” he said, feeling heat suffuse on his cheeks. 

And now he was blushing.

Only strength of will kept him from groaning in embarrassment and fleeing his Commander’s quarters.

“Joker?”

There was something in her voice, a hitch, that caught his attention and he turned his face back to hers.

“Shit, Peyton, I didn’t mean to accost you,” he said, the dam of adrenaline snapping open. “I just.”

He looked into her eyes, feeling a lump in his throat. 

“Damnit, I missed you, and tomorrow I’m supposed to be dropping you on Ilos so you can chase after Saren, and,”

Before he could continue, Peyton reached out and grabbed his hand. Jeff could only stare at it dumbly.

“Come to bed with me, Jeff,” she said, her voice washing over him.

If he was expecting to take the lead, Jeff realized quickly that he’d been wrong because it was Peyton who playfully pushed him backward onto her bed.

When he crashed into the mattress, he was pleasantly surprised that while it was firm, there was a level of softness to the bed. At least the Commander had comfortable sleeping arrangements.

Jeff glanced up as Peyton straddled his hips, his feet still on the floor. He sat himself up, leaning back on his hands, wanting to be close to her. 

She wiggled up toward him while staying on her knees and flipped his hat off his head.

“Hey!”

His head turned to find where his hat had landed. That one piece of clothing was as important to him as the Normandy was.

“You wanted to come in here,” Peyton said; her voice was firm, but with a lilt of laughter. “The hat has to go.”

Before he could come up with a retort, Peyton was leaning down over him and captured his lips in a kiss.

Jeff wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him, and once again tasting the chamomile on her tongue. He knew he’d never think of the herbal tea again without thinking of Peyton.

Pulling at the hem of the shirt that had been so diligently tucked into her pants, Jeff slipped his hands beneath the material and ran his fingers over the soft expanse of skin.

Peyton ground herself against his chest as her tongue dipped into his mouth and her fingers dug down his scalp and between his shoulder blades.

“You,” she muttered pulling away to catch her breath. The tone was wispy and light and Jeff couldn’t focus as her light flowery perfume enveloped him. 

He pulled her shirt up and over her head, revealing a simple black bra worn under her clothes. 

Jeff ran his fingers over her stomach and up to cup her breast, enjoying in the weight against his palm. It had been years since he’d even tried to have sex, but to be able to worship Peyton, it was beyond imagining.

Glancing up, he caught her brown eyes sparkling in the light emanating from the lamp next to her bed. Jeff teased the line of skin peeking out from the top of the cup, feeling Peyton shudder at his touch. 

Press a kiss against the soft skin, Jeff allowed his fingers to slip under the bra strap. It didn’t take long for his thumb to brush against a pebbled nipple as he ran his tongue along the edge of the material. 

Peyton moaned, tipping her head back and pressing her cleavage against his face. His left hand squeezed her breast and her head whipped forward, with a growl in her throat.

For a mere moment, Jeff thought he’d done something wrong, but then he watched as she undid her bra and tossed it onto the floor behind her. 

Taking her breast in his mouth, Jeff sucked and licked at the beaded pearl of her nipple, feeling Peyton running her fingers through his hair and pressing him harder against her. 

Inwardly, Jeff grinned as he realized that she had a thing for this.

His hands began traveling down to her ass, wanting to dig his fingers into her flesh; but then Peyton pulled away and he caught her eyes. 

“You were right about one thing,” she said, breaking the silence between them. “Tomorrow I’m going to be leading a team on Ilos. For tonight, let me lead. Let me take care of you, because tomorrow I might not be able to.”

His heart broke hearing the fear in her voice. 

After a moment, Jeff nodded and allowed Peyton to pull his shirt off, her hands dancing along his chest and his abs like he was the god instead of her being the angel of his dreams.

While she kissed him, Jeff ran his hands over her body, trying to commit her frame to memory. He knew about her tea habit, knew about the small apartment she kept on Arcturus where he’d spent that night on her couch thinking it had been Bekah’s place the night before he’d hijacked the Normandy; but he didn’t know the curve of her hips or the smattering on scars on her shoulder from an old battle wound.

The room went hazy around him, as Jeff allowed himself to enjoy the feel of Peyton’s lips moving down his chest, her fingers running through the light dusting of hair and the rolling of her hips against his. 

It didn’t take long for curiosity to get the better of the both of them and soon their pants were lying on the floor beside the bed and Jeff winced when she spotted the braces around his legs.

Technology had improved greatly when it came to the slim design of the hardware, but it didn’t mean the braces were invisible.

Afraid to look into her eyes, Jeff closed his eyes and pulled her into a kiss, feeling like perhaps she’d kick him out of her room, half naked and in shame. 

She answered his need with her own, but nothing could have surprised him more than the feeling of cool metal against his thigh. 

His eyes shot open to see Peyton holding a blade in her hand.

“I’ve read all these stories,” she started, her eyes glistening with mischief. “Where the man cuts his lover’s underwear off, I always wanted to do that.”

“What?”

Peyton leaned over his form, practically splayed out on her bed.

“I want to cut your boxers off,” she said, whispering into his ear and enunciating every syllable like each was a dirty word.

His eyes went wide and Peyton pulled away, to see his reaction, with a sadistic grin on her lips.

A shudder ran down his spine, his cock twitching with the thought. His brain stuttered and restarted as he eyed the knife.

Without further permission, Peyton slipped the cold steel blade under the cotton and cut it open from top to bottom with one swipe of the blade. The sudden draft raced over his exposed thigh but before his body could react, Commander Shepard was reaching inside and took hold of him, giving the shaft a couple experimental pulls.

Jeff raised his hips, begging for more, though he kept his mouth shut. He’d never expected Peyton to take the lead, but he found that he liked it.

Reaching out for her, Jeff pulled her body closer, her knees brushing against his sides when she settled into place. The material of his shredded boxers was bunched, but hadn’t completely exposed him to the cooler air. 

In the new position, the heat of her sex was pressed torturously close to where he wanted it to be.

Jeff moaned when she circled her hips and gave the palm of her hand a lick before taking hold of him again, this time exposing him to the air of her quarters. 

A surge of pride washed over him as Peyton took her first proper look at what he’d hidden within his clothes. It might not have been the biggest, but the only thing that mattered was the hungry look in her eyes.

Experimentally, Jeff pushed himself into her palm, while her free hand reached between them and cupped his balls. The warmth of her hand sent a pulse of lust through his shaft and a drop of precum leaked out of him. 

Peyton leaned over, her body shifting, and her tongue darted out to taste the liquid. The press of her tongue on the head of his cock sent shockwaves through his body. His fingers dug into the blankets as he bucked up toward the heat of her mouth.

The woman, the sex goddess, took him into her mouth. Her tongue swirled, spreading the drop over the soft skin. Then her tongue ran agonizingly slow over the lip and Jeff couldn’t stop from bucking at the touch, going deeper into her mouth. He hadn’t quite reached the back of her mouth, but it had been close, judging by the wide eyes of the woman above him.

Without a word, she swallowed more of him, brushing him against the back of her throat. The tight feeling of her mouth around him caused Jeff to arch into her touch. But he didn’t want to cum inside her mouth.

“Peyton,” he begged, his eyes screwed shut.

She released him, and Jeff opened his eyes to see her on her hands and knees and crawling over him. Her hard nipples brushed along his chest as she slid over his hips. 

“Suck,” she said, one of her perfect breasts hanging above his lips.

Not needing further instruction, Jeff cupped one breast in each hand and guided the hardened nipple of one into his mouth, squeezing the neglected breast in his hand. His tongue swirled around the puckered skin and sent a shudder through her. Jeff intended to lave enough attention on her to distract himself from the fact that he wanted to be the one treating her, instead of the other way around.

His teeth grazed over her skin, and Jeff rolled the other nipple between his finger and his thumb.

Then, he felt her wet lower lips rubbing against the shaft of his erection, making everything deliciously slick. With a shock, Jeff realized he’d forgotten about the pulsing desire within him, but now, as she moved over him, her opening warm and inviting, Jeff wondered how he’d managed to forget about his own needs.

Peyton’s fingers wrapped around him and guided him to her entrance while he continued following her previous order. 

Within a few breaths, she was pressing down on him, the tip entering her tight heat slowly. Peyton was guiding him into her with a slow torturous pace.

Jeff nipped at the smooth skin in his mouth and Peyton shuddered, barely able to keep herself steady above him.

Not wanting to remain passive any longer, Jeff reached down to grab hold of her and pushed his hips in the air suddenly, slamming the full length of him into her welcoming passage. 

Peyton cried out above him and Jeff watched as her head slammed back, exposing her neck to him. 

He pulled her hips into him, wanting to have her settle above him. With the change in alignment, Jeff wrapped a hand around her neck and brought her down, so that he could suck at the racing pulse. Just being inside her made his eyes go crossed. The clenching sensation around his shaft nearly did Jeff in.

Sitting up, enveloping him totally within her, Peyton ran her hands down his chest. While her fingers entwined the smattering of chest hair, Peyton rolled her hips creating a rippling sensation over his shaft.

Jeff couldn’t contain a grunt at the feeling of her silk walls clenching around him.

“Please,” he muttered.

Peyton grinned down at him and then began moving once more. Pumping his hips into her, Jeff tried to control the speed from the bottom; but the moment he did, Peyton tutted at him.

“But I,” he managed, before she leaned back down, pressing her breasts against his chest and kissing him hard on the mouth while she kept her slow pace.

Jeff groaned, his fingers digging into her hips. 

He could feel the need rising in him, knew he wouldn’t last long, but needed to feel her come loose in his arms.

Doing what he could to control her pace, the little she allowed, Jeff moved with Peyton though his hips were starting to ache. 

Peyton, in her glory, picked up the pace and clenched tightly around him. Jeff reached between them with one hand and teased the pearl of nerves near her entrance.

“Jeff!”

She shuddered around him and Jeff grinned as he fingers dipped further between them, gathering a bit of her moisture to wet his thumb before returning his attentions on that one sweet spot. 

Before he could think, Peyton began slamming down on him, allowing him to reach the very back of her, hilting him inside of her. Jeff knew she wouldn’t last much longer.

Her walls suddenly clenched around him tighter than they had been before, milking him. The additional pressure triggered his own release, as he pumped into her from below a few more times. His balls drawing up as he finally pulsed deep with her.

His throat was dry as she collapsed on top of him. 

Jeff wrapped his arms around her form, trying to keep her still despite wanting to draw the sensation out, and kissed Peyton’s forehead.

Even his toes tingled in the aftermath, as the two of them lay in the bed trying to catch their breath. Already he could feel himself softening within her warmth and he regretted the fact that he would soon slip out. He wished he’d been able to hold back, wanting to flip them over, wanting another round, but if she didn’t kick him out right away, maybe they could go again.

Peyton gave a contented sigh as she cuddled into the crook of his neck. It seemed like she was breathing him in, but Jeff couldn’t be completely positive of her actions.

He ran his fingers through the short bob of her hair, some of the strands plastered on her cheek.

“You’re grinning,” she said, her voice husky.

Jeff nodded, giving her an agreeing hum. His fingers lightly brushed her bare back, reveling in the fact that they’d really crossed the line. He wasn’t sure what would happen in the future, but he could be happy that Peyton had chosen him.


End file.
